Shotgun Wedding
by newyorknewyork1022
Summary: Bella and Edward were married when she was only 17. After a disaster of a wedding night Bella runs. Edward has finally found Bella years later and needs something she can only give him. Somewhat dark. ExB with a little bit of Jake. M
1. Chapter 1

Shotgun Wedding Chapter 1

Bella Swan was just leaving her Manhattan flat when the telephone rang, and she almost did not go back to answer it because she had such a busy day ahead of her, but she had never found it easy to ignore the shrill insistence of a ringing phone, so she sighed and when back.

"Bella? It's me" Said her mother is a husky rush. "I'm glad I caught you, I thought you might already be on your way to work, and I have to leave at once if I'm going to make it on the 8 o'clock train, and then it will take ages to get to JFK from the station."

Frowning Bella said "Slow down, Mom- what are you talking about? Where are you going?"

"Well that's just it. I only heard myself this morning…well last night, well, in the middle of the night." Renee Dwyer's incoherence did not surprise her daughter, who was quite accustomed to it. It was one to the traits Bella was glad she had not inherited. She knew she looked very much like her mother; both were medium height, slim, thick brown hair, and brown eyes, and they both had good skins and oval faces, but in temperament they were very different. Bella was calm and capable; Renee was impulsive, impractical, and volatile.

"Heard what?" Bella asked patiently, but she should have remembered that you couldn't halt her mother's flow. Renee would only tell the story her way- you threw her if you interrupted.

"I'm trying to tell you? Do listen, Bella!" Renee plaintively said. "They rang at three o'clock this morning, which seemed like the dead of the night to me, I was half asleep when I picked up the phone. Well, I couldn't sleep, so I got up again and packed my case and made sure the cottage was tidy and I booked the first available flight to Florida…"

"Florida?" Bella guess then, her face sobering. "It's Phil? He's been taken ill?"

Her stepfather had been in Florida for several weeks, playing with his minor league baseball team, something he did all the time. They played every team and practically every where. This left Renee to be home alone when he went with his team. Bella had spoken to him yesterday morning, when he had been in the best of spirits, so she knew whatever had gone wrong must have happened suddenly.

"No. Thank God, he broke his leg while practicing, yesterday afternoon!" Renee said dramatically and Bella gave a little gasp of shock.

"Broke his leg? Well how did he do that?" Phil was the kind of man who always played it safe and he was the last man she was ever having expected to break something. It just wasn't what happened to Phil; he loved the game too much to ever need to be away from it. A little over forty, he was still a very handsome man, with dark hair and dark eyes, a wonderful tan and a charming endearing manner. She knew her mother thought the sun shone out of him, and he seemed to love her mother very much, too.

Oh, I don't know, Bella," her mother wailed. "I couldn't make it out. I spoke to is coach first, who said something about a collision. He was talking too fast and I was so shocked I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. Then they let me speak to Phil, who begged me to come down and he sounded like he was in so much pain. He's gone to pieces- you know what he's like."

"Do I not?" Bella was smiling ruefully because Phil was one of those men who always needed a woman to look after him. His mother was the one who could not see him part away from her, that's why he had waited so long to marry. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her feelings.

When her death had finally freed him, though, he had married to first woman he had met soon afterwards. The really surprising thing was that she was older and wasn't what was expected of him. It might so easily have been a disaster, that astonishing, unexpected marriage, but it hadn't, it had instead been a blazing success, and they were still happy seven years later.

"So you see why I must get to him as soon as I can!" said her mother.

"Of course - poor Phil! He must be in quite a state. Would you like me to come, too? I'll have to rearrange a few appointments for today, but that won't be hard. I could book a late afternoon flight, I'm sure there must be one…"

"No, no, dear, I can manage on my own. I'd much rather you stay here, and then if I need anything I can call you. We all three can't be away or who knows what might happen!"

Bella smiled wryly. "oh, I think it would stagger on for a few weeks but, I'll do whatever you want me to, you know that. Anything I can do now?"

"Just one thing-will you go down to the cottage at the weekend and make sure everything is OK? The workmen should have finished work on the new kitchen extension and be out of there- I meant to drive down to make sure they had done the job properly. Mrs. Stanely, was going to keep an eye on them for me but her daughter had a baby and she's gone to look after them both, so I don't know what sort of state the cottage is in, and it's on my mind, so if you could…"

Sure! It's Thursday right?" Bella stared at the wall, mentally checking off her weekend plans. " I don't have anything important on this weekend." Just a date with the man she was currently seeing, but that would have to be placed aside. It was more important to have her mother's mind at rest. "I'll rive down tomorrow night. Just remember, if you need to speak to me after five tomorrow I'll be driving down to the cottage, so call me on my cell."

"Oh, dear, It is a long drive, darling. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"No, I don't mind. In fact, I'll enjoy a break from the city for a couple days. Don't worry about it, just concentrate on Phil, give him my love, and make sure you get him all the best doctors."

"Of course, darling. I have to go or I'll miss my flight…bye, talk to you soon." Renee Dwyer flung the phone down and Bella smiled wryly as she replaced her own. Really, she should be going with her mother. Mom was bound to get flustered and panic.

She had a busy day ahead of her, visiting three of the New York stores in turn, so she pushed all thought of her mother and Phil to the back of her mind for the moment, and hurried out to the garages adjoining the block of flats in which she lived, to pick up her small red estate car. After pulling out of the garage Bella made her way to work.

"Something wrong?"

The voice made her jump, swinging round, but she relaxed when she saw the young woman standing next to her. "Oh, hello, Alice. Sorry, I was just daydreaming."

"I thought you were hating the window display!"

"Oh, no! I love it" said Bella and Alice Witlock gave a relieved grin, her brown eyes brightening again.

"Oh good! I was pleased with it myself. Rosalie did it, the new girl. She's good don't you think?"

"Very" agreed Bella, nodding.

Alice had been managing the store for several year, and was very good at her job. Staff and customers liked her, yet she was very efficient; this branch had run like clockwork ever since she took over.

Bella and Alice were not only co-workers but very good friends and Bella confided much to Alice. Alice had brown eyes and pixie type hair style. She was married to a business man who was often away for half the week, which Bella knew she would hate, but it did not seem to bother Alice.

She was always happy to see her husband, Jasper, back again, but when he was away she didn't seem unhappy, maybe because she had an absorbing career of her own, and had many friends. She and Jasper lived in a modern block of flats, mostly occupied but young people, none of them with children. Alice had rapidly got to know most of the them, and her social life was a busy one, but she was a big success in her job and Bella hopped they would keep her.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Alice asked her.

"My mother is away, Phil broke something and needed her so I have to their cottage in Jersey."

"But weren't you going on that date with Jake?"

Bella pulled a face. "Yes, and I'm not looking forward to telling him I can't go."

"Can't you take the train to Jersey right now and get back in time to go?"

"No, I have many important appointments; I can't put them off and anyway I want to be near the airport in case my mom needs be to go to Florida. By tomorrow night she'll know whether or not she needs me."

Alice nodded sympathetically. "Oh well, Jake will understand; family has to come first."

Bella gave a wry smile. "Let's hope so. But it's a pretty important date. It's his firm's annual party and all his bosses will be there, and Jake wants to make a big impression. He even came with me to buy my dress, to make sure I looked good, so he isn't going to be too pleased when he hears I'm going to Jersey instead, but I don't see how I can get back by Saturday night. I'll be exhausted after the ride down there. I doubt I'll be about to face riding back as soon as I get there."

"No, I don't think you'd be able to," agreed Alice, but when Bella talked to Jacob Black that night he was by no means as understanding. In fact, he was furious. He went red and stiffened, his black eyes flashing sparks at her.

"You can't be serious! You have to come! I can't do to the dinner alone, people will think you stood me up! I'll look like a complete fool!" Nothing could horrify Jake more than the prospect of looking like a fool. Bella knew that and looked at him ruefully. She realized why his dignity was such a big deal to him. He was a man from a poor background who was climbing the ladder of success so fast it occasionally gave him vertigo. He felt the need to appear completely in control, completely at his ease. He used dignity as armor. It was his inner uncertainties that had attracted her to, in fact, not that Jake would be to pleased if she told him so. He could be rather sweet and helpless, when he stopped pretending to be a big, tough executive.

"I'm sorry Jake. I know how much it means to you, but it's a matter of priorities…"

His face tightened angrily. "I see, and I come second to your mother's cottage, do I?"

"I didn't mean that."

"Oh, yes, you did. Your mother asks you to go all the way to Jersey to check on her cottage, so you dump me and out date without a second thought. My career doesn't matter a damn to you, does it? I've explained over and over again how important this occasion is… the Chairman will be there! He always dances with a couple of the prettiest women- he might have picked you."

"He might not even have noticed me!" Bella muttered..

Jake snapped back, " The wives and girlfriends of executives always get noticed! The higher you go in the company, the more important it is to have a presentable woman."

"Oh, thanks! So that's what I am, is it? A presentable woman?" Bella was seething too and had flushed a bright pink. "I'm not a possession of yours, Jake. You can't take me out to be assessed by your boss once a year. Do I get marks for clothing sense? A mark for good legs? What else do they judge a woman on? You'll be asking me to cook dinner for the whole board of directors, soon, to prove to them I can cook, too."

"Oh, don't be so ridiculous!" he snarled, his hands screwing up into fists as of he wanted to hit her, although Jake was fat too polite to do anything of the kind. "You know what I meant. It's vital for you to be with me this one evening of the year. It isn't too much to ask is it? Everyone will be there- the managing director, my head of department, everyone! I've talked about you, they're expecting you…"

Their eyes met and she read his expression frowning. Jake had boasted about her, she realized suddenly. Her family firm had been getting big publicity lately, with their expansion out of Manhattan. She was a very useful girlfriend for an ambitious man like Jake; if she didn't show up his pride and his ego would be dented. It wouldn't be that he would miss her; it was merely that he wanted to show her off. She hesitated, not knowing what to say, both irritated and sorry for him.

"Isn't there anyone else you could take?" she suggested at last, and he looked at her as if she were mad.

"Another woman? You really want me to take another woman?"

She fell silent, realizing suddenly what she had said, and all that underlay the words. Jake sounded outraged, as if she had suggested some heinous infidelity, told him to betray her. There was a fraught silence while they both stared at each other, and Bella tried to say something, anything, to cover the discovery she had just made, they both had made.

Jake had been having a light dinner with her. He got up from the table, pushing his chair back with a violence that made it fall over, and walked stiff legged to the door. Bella followed him and watched him collect his expensive coat put it on and turn towards her.

"There's nothing to say, is there?" He said. "Either you come to the dinner with me, or you don't, and we're finished. Let me know by tomorrow evening which way you decide." He opened the front door, his flushed face struggling to be polite. "Thank you for dinner- it was delicious."

As the door closed she felt a bubble of hysterical laughter in her throat. How typical of Jake to become formal and courteous after issuing her with an ultimatum. Then she stopped laughing. Why hadn't she realized until now that she wasn't serious about Jake? Her mouth indented wryly; but _hadn't _she known? Had she ever though of herself as serious, committed to him? She had drifted into the relationship gradually, not intending to get seriously involved- it hadn't entered her head that Jake thought she was serious, or that Jake himself might be serious.

She curled up on the carpet in front of the electric log fire which glowed on her small hearth, trying to sort out her thoughts, Jake's feelings. What exactly did she mean by…serious? What was she saying? That he was in love with her? The idea made her frown, then laugh shortly. No. Not that. Jake was not in love; he felt nothing so overwhelming.

He had probably decided, though, no doubt after careful thought, because that was Jake's way of reaching any important decision, that she would make a suitable wife for a rising young executive; and perhaps that was the right way to consider marriage- as a partnership. What, after all, had love to do with it?

No sane person would marry for love- that was no basis for choosing someone to live with, to bring up children with was it? Bella didn't trust love. Love was messy and explosive, it made you vulnerable, betrayed you and it didn't last; worst of all, it left you feeling like hell. She had been in love once, and the wound still ached on certain days, like the scars of some old battle. She never intended to let love happen to her again, and, luckily, so far she had never been in the slightest danger of caring that much for anyone else.

She had felt quite safe with Jake, she liked him, but not too much. He was no threat to her emotions, and yet he was good company. They had a lot of friends in common, and everyone felt that they made a nice couple; their mutual friends approved, and, although she had ignored the fact until now, so did their families. She should have guessed, meeting the smiles, the knowing looks, the little hints, from his mother, her own.

Why on earth hadn't she realized the way the wind was blowing? How had she stayed blind for so long? She could kick herself. Had she preferred not to know? It was so convenient to have a represent able male as an escort, someone who her mother and Phil liked, someone who knew most of her friends and had a busy career of his own, so that he understood the demands of her job- and also, admittedly, she like Jake.

She bit her lip, her frown deepening. Yes, she liked him- but not enough to think of spending her life with him surely? Her brown eyes were troubled. It was just as well that this had happened. She had been warned, and how she had to make a very important decision. She was too tired tonight, though. She looked at her watch, and got up. She would sleep on it, decide tomorrow.

She must have been more tired than she realized, because she slept through her alarm and woke with a start to find that it was past eight and she was going to be late for work.

It was a bad day to start a difficult day; she was in a hurry from then on and had to forget any thought of Jake and whether she wanted to end their relationship. It was only as she rode out of Manhattan heading to Jersey on the train, that she admitted to herself that the decision had been made without her needing to think. She had not called Jake, and silence was an answer in itself. He would know what that meant. If she had called him he might have tried to persuade her, or flown into another rage, and she was too tired to face either reaction. Jake would have no problem finding someone to take; he was not good-looking, but he was attractive- a tall, muscular man, with russet skin and long brown hair with black eyes. Sometimes she had had trouble conjuring his face in her memory, it was true; Jake was not memorable. But he dressed well, he was very eligible and she knew other girls noticed him; he would soon find someone else.

_I'll miss him_, she thought, pulling a face. They had been seeing each other for months; he was a habit with her.

Oh well, she signed making herself concentrate on the moving landscape. There was no point in regret for what could not be helped. Life wasn't easy, that was all. Her mother's panic was over; Phil would heal in time for the next season and they were staying down in Florida for the rest of the season.

Night had fallen, as she made her way to her mother's cottage by taxi, but there was a strange light in the sky- something very different. Bella screwed up her eyes in puzzled surprise, staring- what was it? It looked positively eerie.

Then she saw the first soft white flakes blowing by the window and her heart sank. Oh, no! Not snow! She hadn't bargained for that when she agreed to come here.

As the rode on westwards, the gentle drift of snow became a howling blizzard and she began to think she wasn't going to make it, but the roads were not yet impassable. An hour later the taxi finally pulled up to the isolated little cottage within earshot of the sea. She got out and paid the cabbie told him she was sorry about the trip back and made her way to the house.

She found the front door key, unlocked the cottage and slammed the front door on the way into the house. It only took a short while to make the place a warm and welcoming home; she put on lights, turned on the oil-fired central heating, made up her bed, unpacked, opened a can of tomato soup, heated it, and sat down to eat dinner at the kitchen table.

Her first spoonful was on its way to her mouth when the phone rang, and she dropped soup all over herself with a cry of shock. Jumping up, she dabbed herself with a cloth while she was running to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she breathlessly said, expecting to hear her mother's voice.

There was a silence, and then a husky male voice said,"Mrs. Dywer?"

Disappointed Bella said flatly, "No, I'm afraid she isn't here at the moment. She's in Florida with her husband. Would you like to leave a message?"

There was a silence, and then he said "Who is this?"

For no reason could she have explained, that voice made a shiver run down her back; an instinctive shudder. She didn't recognize the voice, yet she almost didn't answer, which was crazy.

He had only asked who she was! A perfectly natural question, wasn't it? _What is the matter with you?_ she asked herself.

"I'm her daughter," she said slowly and got a second shock when she heard the phone click, and she realized he had hung up without another word. After a surprised pause, she replaced her own phone, frowning. How rude.

She went back to the table and sat down. Well, at least her soup was still hot. She finished her meal hungrily, but couldn't stop thinking about the phone call. Who could it have been? They had no near neighbors here; the nearest house was a mile off, closer to the sea, but if it had been someone she knew he would have said so- he wouldn't have hung up without a word.

Confused, she went back to her room and got ready for bed. She made sure all the windows and doors were locked, took a bath, and went to sleep.

She woke with a jolt some time later, and sat up, eyes wide yet blank with sleep, trembling as if from a nightmare. She didn't know where she was for a second and stared around, slowly recognizing the shadows of the furniture, remembering why she was here.

The room was fill with the eerie light she had seen on her way up; the reflection of the moon and stars on the snow outside, a magical disturbing light which made her shiver.

She was about to lie down again, when she heard the creak of the floorboard outside, on the landing. Her heart crashed into her ribs; she stared fixedly across the room- there was someone there, outside her room.

Before she had time to think the door began to open and she saw in the strange white light of the snow a shape appear in the doorway, a tall, looming, shape. The outline of a man.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: So here's chapter 2 of shotgun wedding. If it's confusing read the end note, I'll put in the summary!**

**Thanks so much to my beta, twidi. She has some stories up and you should go read them they're pretty amazing!**

**Make sure to review!**

**__________________________________________________________________________**

**Shotgun Wedding**

**Chapter 2**

Bella wanted to scream, but she couldn't; her throat seemed numb. Her mouth was open but no sound came out, although inside her head she was screaming and the moment stretched like a tortured nerve, on and on, while she stared and the dark shape in the doorway did not move.

Then suddenly he did; taking a long silent stride towards her bed and that seemed to free her voice. She did not scream, but she gave a high, shaking cry, shrinking back against the headboard of the bed. Her eyes wide; watching him with the terrified eyes of a trapped animal waiting for its predator to pounce and unable to flea because it was frozen with fear. He was wearing black from head to foot; a leather jacket which shone with wet snow, black trousers, black boots. The only thing that wasn't black was his golden colored hair. If only she could see his face she might not be so scared, but the pale snow light did not illuminate his features… but merely shimmered across his face in an unearthly way.

He was only a few feet away by the time she had managed to start thinking. What was she doing, sitting there waiting for him? She had to get away.

She scrambled off the bed and began to run towards the open door, but he moved faster, launching himself at her; his hands reaching for her. Bella screamed at the contact and went on screaming as she fell with him; their bodies hitting the carpet together and rolling over and over.

"Who's going to hear you?" he whispered hoarsely and he was right of course.

Nobody would hear her; there were no houses within earshot. This was a very isolated cottage, deliberately chosen because it stood a mile from any other habitation, a place out of the rush of modern life, a place to be safe and peaceful. There was irony in that thought now.

"My husband will be back from work soon, he'll be here any minute…" She tried to sound convincing, but he laughed.

"Oh, I'm really scared," he whispered in that deep, husky voice and she recognized it; she realized that it had been familiar from the start.

He was the man who had called her earlier. He must have been checking to see if anyone was in the cottage and when he knew she was there alone….

Who was he? She thought desperately. She had this strange, disturbing feeling that she knew him. Her heart pounded against her ribs; she couldn't bear it… the thought of what he might plan to do to her. She suddenly rolled away, meaning to get up and run, but he was a quicker thinker than she was; his arm shot out and clamped her by the waist.

She lay on her side, facing away from him, trying to push his hand down, struggling violently and he moved closer, ,forcing her into intimate body contact, his chest against her back, his thigh touching her, his other arm sliding under her to hold her even tighter.

Bella was breathing so rapidly that it hurt and she was sobbing soundlessly, tears hot in her eyes. With a shock of fear she felt one of his hands move up. Her PJ's had ridden up in the struggle and he pushed it up even further, sliding a hand up inside her shirt to touch her bare breasts with his finger tips, stroking her hard nipples. A light caressing slide of flesh on flesh which made her recoil, trying to get away from him while she moaned,

"No!"

This time, though, he didn't try to stop her. He let her break free, let her struggle shakily to her feet, always expecting to be dragged back; like a mouse which a tormenting cat allows to escape only to snatch it back a second later.

He just sat up and watched her, as she ran for the door, trembling and uncertain, her mind in panic.

She had to get away from him; her head whirled with hurried plans and fears. If she could get a head start she could get to the car, but then she realized that her car keys were in her purse, which was in the bedroom and in this weather to try to run across the grass, or even along the road to the nearest town, would be suicide. The snow cut them off as effectively as if this cottage were an island in the middle of the frozen sea.

"There's nowhere to run to, Bella" he said behind her, reading her mind.

She froze in the doorway, her feeling chaotic. She had thought she was going crazy, that the strange tormenting familiarity she had felt had all been imagination, but now she knew it hadn't been.

"You… you…" she looked back and he was on his feet, but he wasn't chasing after her. He simply stood there, a tall, black shadow in the snow lit room, staring at her and she stared back, beginning to glimpse features of his face.

A long, straight nose a firm chin, wide hard mouth and his eyes… those eyes… green, cold and disturbing… She took a long, appalled breath. _It was him._

"You can't get away, not this time," he said and again the words echoed in her mind.

"This time?" she repeated aloud, beginning to shake again.

"Even if you could start the car, you wouldn't get far. The snow is already wall-high. I had to abandon my own car half a mile from here and walk the rest of the way and I thought I might not make it. The telephone lines are down locally. That wind has caused all sorts of damage and the snow is causing more."

He said matter-of-factly. How could he talk that way, seem so at ease, while her ears rang with memories she had tried to bury deep years ago?

"Who are you?' she whispered.

But she knew she had recognized him when he'd spoken her name. Perhaps she had even recognized his voice when he called earlier. Something in the timbre of that voice had made the hair stand up on the back of her neck; and sent dread spiraling through her. She hadn't quite put it all together, her subconscious hadn't told her conscious mind what it knew, but somewhere inside her head… she had known; she realized that now.

"You know who I am," he said with derision, reading her mind again and that disturbed her even more.

She did not want him reading her mind, guessing her thoughts and feelings, all her reactions. She needed to put a mask upon her face and hide herself from him.

"I don't," she lied, hoping it would be true and knowing that it wasn't.

He reached out a hand to the bedside lamp and she broke out hoarsely, "No, don't turn on the light."

She didn't want to see his face, she didn't want to know for sure, because in this strange snowy light there was something dreamlike, mysterious and unreal about being here with him. And if he turned on the light he would break the spell, bringing them both out into the real world.

"Afraid of facing me, Bella?" he asked in icy mockery.

She angrily snapped back, "No!"

"You prefer it in the dark?" His voice held double meaning; she felt heat rise to her face.

"I'd prefer you to go away… now!"

He laughed softly. "Don't you want to see how much I've changed? You've changed, you know... Even in the dark I could tell that. When you were seventeen you were downright skinny, flat as a boy, front and back…" He paused and then went on, his voice mocking, "Nobody could say that now. You have a very sexy body."

"Shut up!" she broke out.

He talked on, "Beautiful breasts…"

"Shut up!" Her face was burning now. His words conjured up the vision of his hands up her shirt, the cool brush of his fingers on her bare flesh and she was so angry she shook with it.

"Y-y-you had no right! Touching me like that!" she stammered her throat rough. "You scared me senseless. I thought it was someone who'd broken in… any minute, I thought, I might be killed."

"I didn't intend it to happen that way," he began and she gave a furious laugh.

"No?"

"No," he said impatiently. "Look, I had to see you and there was no answer at your apartment, or at your mother's, so I called here and when you answered I decided to drive down here right away."

"And break in and attack me!" she accused.

"I did not attack you!"

"What do you call it, then? You knocked me off my feet—"

"I had to stop you from running away… you were in a stupid panic mode!"

"You knocked me to the ground and then you…" She put her hands to her flushed cheeks, trying to shut out the memory. "You… _handled_ me!" she spat at him.

"I'm only human, you were too close for comfort; as soon as I touched you my curiosity got the best of me," he said without any sign of regret.

"You mean you enjoyed terrifying me!"

There was a little silence and then he laughed shortly. "Yes, maybe I did. I was angry and… yes, maybe I did. I'm not apologizing, Isabella, not after what you've done to me."

She was the one to fall silent, then, biting her lip. For a moment, neither of them said anything and then he began talking again in that soft, mocking and conversational tone.

"Even your hair is different. You wore your hair in a long tail, right down to your waist, I remember. When you walked alone it swung about behind you. I was always tempted to pull it. You've cut it off, haven't you? I felt how short it was… and it curls; it never did that. I hope you haven't changed the color, too. I loved it; a dark shiny brown."

Bella couldn't bear anymore. Shakily, she said, "I don't know why you're here, or what you think you're doing here, but I don't want you here. Go away!"

She had hardly finished speaking when he said harshly, "Did you know my father died?"

The shock seemed to knock the breath out of her. It was at least a minute before she said, "No…" The word was half denial, half grief, because she had loved his father, far more than she had ever loved her own.

"A month ago," he said, sounding as if he didn't believe her. "_The Times_ carried an obituary. You didn't see it?"

"No, I rarely read newspapers, I don't have the time." Her mother couldn't have seen the news, either, or she would certainly have said something. She, too, had been fond of the old man and she knew how close he and Bella had been. Taking a deep breath, Bella quietly said, "I'm very sorry to hear he's dead… you'll miss him."

He laughed angrily. "I could hardly miss him more than I have for the last eight years. He hasn't spoken to me since the night you left."

She was stunned into silence and before she could say how sorry she was to hear that, he turned abruptly and turned on the bedside lamp. The sudden brightness blinded her for a little while and then her eyes focused on him, seeing him properly for the first time. He looked ever taller, a lean , dangerous and hungry man; his face so familiar that she wondered how she had not known it even in the dark, those chiseled features and cold eyes, that wide, passionate mouth.

He was assessing her, too, from head to foot, with raking insolence; and she hurriedly fixed her shirt under that stare, making his mouth flick upwards at one corner in silent derision.

That smile made her angry again and she burst out, "Don't try to make me feel guilty about your father. Have you forgotten what you said to me that night? How could I stay there after that?"

His face was hard. "You had led me to believe that that was what you had wanted, _remember_?"

Her flush deepened. "I was seventeen! I didn't know what I was doing!"

His green eyes lashed her. "Oh, I think you did. You wanted to marry into my family; you wanted to be mistress of Chantries. You'd had your sights set on me for months. You followed me everywhere I went; every time I turned around, there you were, clinging on for dear life. My God, you chased me relentlessly."

She wanted to burst into tears and that same time she was angry enough to kill him. Because it was true… and yet, it was all _lies_. She had followed him around everywhere; she had clung on for dear life, but not because she wanted to be mistress of his family's estate. That hadn't entered her mind. She wasn't an ambitious type. She wasn't a social climber, or a fortune hunter. She had been half child, half woman, head over heels in love and unable to hide it. All she had wanted was to be close to him, to be able to see him, watch him and listen to his voice. She had been infatuated, obsessed, almost possessed… and she hadn't thought about any future with him, or even had realized where her wild pursuit of him might lead.

"I didn't want Chantries!" she muttered, glaring at him. "That part isn't true. I won't have you accusing me of that! You were the one who misunderstood… I was just a silly teenager who was having her first crush… it wasn't real!"

His eyes flashed, electric and deadly "Not real? A first crush?" She heard hatred in his voice. "And for that you ruined my entire life?"

She paled, drawing in a painful breath. "I didn't—"

Harshly, he broke in on her, "My father's last will only turned up a few days ago. He had locked it in a drawer in the library, nobody knew it was there. His lawyers didn't have a copy of it. They believed the last will was the one which had left everything to me. But then last week the executors were going through his papers and they have found a _later_ one." He paused, staring bitterly at her. "He didn't leave Chantries to me."

Bella went white, her eyes horrified. "He didn't? But… then, who inherits?"

Edward had been an only child, but she knew that his father had had a brother, who lived down south in North Carolina somewhere and that he had a son. Had old Carlisle Cullen left his estate to his nephew? How cruel and unfair. It was so unlike him; she wouldn't have believed him capable of it. No wonder Edward was so angry; he had every right to resent this.

He was staring at her fixedly, his skin dark with rage and his jaw line clenched. Suddenly he said in an icy voice, "The whole estate, money, land, everything… was left to _our _children."

The shock was so intense that all the blood seems to leave her body; she swayed, shivering, as if in a high wind and for a moment almost fainted. He took two strides to get to her, caught her as she slumped and put her on the bed, but she struggled against his hands, trembling, pushing him away unnerved by his touch and sat up on the edge of the bed looking dazed at him.

"You didn't mean that"

"Yes," he bit out through tight lips.

"He couldn't have!"

"He did."

"It can't be legal!"

"Perfectly legal it seems," he snapped. "He knew what he was doing; he had made other wills, only this time, he didn't inform him solicitor. But he followed what had been used with his previous wills and the wording was all perfectly correct. He left everything in trust for any children-"

She interrupted shakily. "Oh! To _your_ children, you mean." Her mind scrambled ahead, guessing what he had come here to say. "I see why you had to find me. You want to marry again, have children and so you need a divorce." She felt a stab of odd feeling as she said the word, maybe of pain because their strange brief marriage had caused her such misery and its ending would be as strange as its beginning. She forced a smile which wavered uncertainly. "I wouldn't have thought you needed to get my agreement, not after all these years. It must be a straightforward procedure, right?"

"No divorce!" he snarled and she shrank from the look in his eyes. If anything, he had grown even angrier while he listened to her. "You didn't let me finish. Just shut up and listen. The children must be _ours_, yours and mine."

She gave a gasp. "What?"

"You heard me. He was quite specific; only our issue counts. If we have divorced, or if we don't have children within two years of my father's death, the estate goes to my cousin, Emmett."

"Edward," she whispered appalled. "Oh, I'm so sorry! How could he do it to you? It isn't like him to be so unkind."

"You ran away," he said fiercely. "He blamed me for that. He never forgave me. I was his son, his _only_ son, but I never mattered the way you did. You were always his pet; he doted on you from the minute you were born."

"It doesn't make sense," she said aloud, her eyes puzzled. "Why did he do it? He always talked as if nothing would make him happier than to know that you would one day run Chantries."

"My father changed after you left, "Edward muttered, scowling over her head. "He grew bitter and he blamed me for everything that had happened. He was lonely, but he wouldn't have me in the house; I wasn't welcomed at Chantries anymore."

Bella was shaken. "You left, too? Maybe that's why-"

"I didn't leave. I was thrown out. I lived with the Hale's for some months, until I realized I would never be allowed back home and then I moved into one of the farm cottages around the estate."

"When you left Chantries, did you have to stop working on the estate too?" she asked and he shook his head.

"No, I still worked on the estate. In fact, I've been running the place for the last few years, because my father's health began to deteriorate and he more or less gave up the estate management to me."

She gave him a bewildered look. "So he did start speaking to you again?"

"No," Edward said curtly, bitterness in every line of his face. "We communicated in writing. I sent him notes and letters and long memos and he replied in the same way. It was absurd."

She bit her lip. "Doesn't it sound as if he was sick? Mentally, I mean. It's not like him… his illness may have made him confused, might have changed his personality. Couldn't you make that the basis for contesting the will?"

"I'm not having my father's name blackened in some courtroom!" Edward snarled and she took a nervous step away from him. He had always been a dominant person, even as a boy, but since she last saw him he had become a formidable, alarming man. She wouldn't want to cross him, or find herself opposing him.

"I didn't suggest-"she began to stammer.

"That was what you implied; that I should challenge the will on the grounds that my father didn't know what he was doing. And I won't have it! I'd rather see Emmett let loose on Chantries than have my father's reputation blackened like that." His rage was disturbing, yet she was touched by it because of what it meant; affection for his father which he had rarely allowed to show but of which she had always been certain.

There was a brief pause then Edward went on quietly. "In a sense, I think he was mentally ill, at the end. He never went out, never saw anybody. He brooded on the past all the time, I gathered from his doctor. He kept me in touch with my father's condition and he was worried about his mental state… oh, he didn't think he was going crazy, but he knew Dad was in severe depression and he kept trying to talk him into seeing me, but Dad wouldn't list." Edward shot her a sideways look, his eyebrows lowering. "There were photos of you and my mother everywhere around him, but none of me, of course."

Was he jealous of her? She wondered suddenly, her brown eyes wide with shock. Had he always been jealous of the affection between her and his parents? He had been sent away to school and she had somehow moved into his place in the family…_ was that how he saw it?_

Edward grimaced, "He pretended I no longer existed. He wouldn't let his doctor talk about me. Even when he wrote instructions to me about the farm, he was impersonal, as though I was a stranger, just an employee. He never wrote 'Dear Edward'; He just headed everything 'To the Farm Manager'."

"Oh, Edward," she said, instinctively putting a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry…"

He stiffened, looking down at her slender, pale fingers touching his black jacket and she went pink and snatched her hand away.

"What was wrong with him physically?"

Edward gave her an odd look, "At first the doctors weren't too sure… one of them even came up with some crazy theory that he was trying to give himself the disease my mother died of. I think they believed it was psychosomatic, but it turned out to be some obscure disease of the liver. I suppose he would have died of it. But actually what killed him was a heart attack. It was very sudden." He stopped short, brooding for a few seconds, then added, "And I never said goodbye to him."

"Maybe he never meant that will to stand, maybe he would have changed it," she suggested, trying to think of some way of comforting him and Edward looked harshly at her.

"It hardly matters what he might have meant. The legal consequences are all that matter and they are very clear cut, aren't they?"

"I'm very sorry, Edward." Bella whispered, unhappily, meeting his angry green eyes. "I know how much it will hurt you to lose the estate."

"I don't plan on losing it…" he said through his teeth, holding her gaze insistently. "You _are_ going to give me a child to inherit my estate."

**Author's note: Woah, well I don't know about you but if Edward said I had to give him a child I would want to start immediately! So originally there was more to this chapter. Bella and Edward fight and he ends up telling her he's staying the night and she doesn't take it very well. It seemed too OOC and it was too much so I took it out. **

**Summary:**

**The person in her doorway is Edward Cullen**

**Edward makes some moves on Bella and she doesn't take it very well**

**Carlisle is Edward's real father in this story and yes he and Esme are dead. This story is about Bella and Edward and the only other person who's really in it is Jacob and later on in the story Jacob and Edward will fight! Oh la la!**

**Yes, Bella and Edward are married. They were married when she was seventeen and he's about nine years older than her. This story takes place eight years after their marriage. Bella is 25 and Edward is about 34. [yes, I like the older Edward. He's kind of sexy!]**

**Edward needs a child so he can inherit his father's house. If they don't have a kid the house and everything (money, land, everything!) go to Emmett.**

**The child has to be Edward's **_**and**_** Bella's no one else's. **

**Edward isn't giving up. I mean what kind of story would that be if Bella said no and Edward was okay with it? **

**Edward is staying with Bella in her mother's cottage in Jersey on the coast and it's just them. No one else, they're isolated so they can really focus on what's happening with no one interrupting them.**

**I don't know if the other characters will make an appearance. How I plan to end this story doesn't include a wedding chapter or anything else like that. But, I'll just go where it leads me!**

**Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**** Well, here it is! I had a three day weekend and I typed it all weekend. This is not another authors note nope! It's chapter three!**

**I'm sorry to everyone that has been reading this story and has been only reading author's notes but, hopefully a 5,000 word chapter will make up for it?**

**Again, I was serious about the last authors note so please go back and read it!**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________**

Bella woke up with a start and didn't remember, for a moment, what had happened last night. She lay looking at the ceiling with a blank expression, noticing the play of icy light across it, hearing the wind outside howling across the moor and wondering why she felt so tired and flat, almost _depressed_. Her head ached and she didn't want to get up. Was she getting a cold? Or was it the arrival of the snow that had upset her?

Then she heard a faint sound in the cottage and it all came back to her in a blinding flash. She sat up with a gasp, staring at her bedroom door.

He was here. In the cottage, on the other side of that door, moving about, whistling softly. Edward. Her pale lips framed the name silently. Edward. _Her husband._

She had pushed the memory of her brief marriage to the back of her mind; so many years ago that she found the fact of it incredible now, just as she had found it the day she'd stood beside him in the Register Office, going through the civil ceremony which made them 'man and wife', looking sideways at him through her lashes in dazed disbelief. She might have tried consciously to suppress those memories, but she found that she had forgotten nothing. Everything about that day must have been burnt into her unconscious mind; she could summon up even the tiniest detail now.

She had been wearing her best dress, but it had hardly been suitable, a simple blue dress meant for a schoolgirl to wear at weekends, nothing special or very pretty. Her father didn't believe in spending good money on anything he felt was unnecessary and pretty clothes for his only daughter came into the category of 'unnecessary'.

He had been there, to make certain it really happened; a grim, hostile presence in his only suit, a heavy country tweed he had had for years and wore at all formal occasions, even _funerals_… although for those he added a black armband around one sleeve of his jacket. She had almost expected him to have his shotgun over his arm, but Charlie Swan was too conventional for that. He had left it at home, although the threat of it smoldered in his sullen eyes every time he looked at her and Edward.

He had found them together, after the harvest festival dance, lying in each other's arms, in the sweet-smelling, long grass under the heavy-laden apple trees in the orchard behind Chantries and he had had his gun then. He had leveled it at Edward, murder in his eyes and Bella had screamed, believing he meant to shoot.

"No, Father!"

He had looked at her, giving a disgusted look over her, silently commenting on her unbuttoned blouse, the glimpse that gave of her tiny, pale breasts, the way her skirt had ridden up her long bare legs. His face contemptuous, he had spat out an insult, called her something vile that made her flinch, turning a shamed scarlet; and that had brought Edward to his feet, his face dark with rage.

"Don't use language like that with her!"

"What else is she then?" Charlie Swan, had said, his mouth distasteful.

"Nothing happened, man!" Edward had angrily protested and her father had given a sneering laugh.

"Don't bother lying to me. I know what I saw before you heard me coming."

Edward's flush had deepened, "Look, Charlie…" he had begun and the older man had snapped at him.

"Mr. Swan to _you_ after tonight!" then reproach had shown in his eyes, "I never thought you'd do this to me, Mr. Edward. Not your father's son. As for her, well, I can't say I'm surprised. She's her mother's daughter, after all. I knew it would come out in her sooner or later, but I'd hoped to get her married off first. I won't be shamed in front of the whole country again, Mr. Edward. I had enough of scandal and gossip when my wife ran off with her fancy baseball player… I _won't_ be made a laughing stock a second time."

He had still had the gun pointed at Edward and his finger had been on the trigger, crooked as if to squeeze. Bella had been so terrified that she had begun to scream again and that had brought old Carlisle Cullen from the house, hurrying down the rough grass of the orchard path, he was breathing noisily.

"What in heaven's name is all this noise? What's going on?" he had asked, staring in stunned surprise at the tableau he found under the trees; the heavy-set gamekeeper, the trembling, sobbing girl and finally his own son.

Edward and Charlie Swan had begun to talk at once and Carlisle Cullen had broken in on them. Impatiently, "I can't listen to all of you're saying, Charlie, you tell me… and for God's sake _lower_ that gun! Is it loaded?" he had read the answer in the other man's grim face and gone on gruffly, "What's the matter with you? You know better than to point a loaded gun at someone."

The two older men had known each other all their lives. Her father had worked on the Chantries estate since leaving school; he was an excellent gamekeeper. He knew every aspect of his work and he was temperamentally suited to it. He was up before dawn and out in the woods and fields each day. And then after a few hours sleep at night, he was always out again, on alert for poachers after pheasants or partridge or even rabbits. The energetic lifestyle had seemed to suit him; he was a tough and physically witty and even though he was fifty, he could walk miles without tiring.

Even the necessary solitude in the woods had seemed to suit him, because he was quite happy alone; indeed was usually silent when he was in company, with one exception… Carlisle Cullen. The two men had seen each other most days and Charlie Swan was usually quite relaxed and easy with his employer, but not that night.

"I just caught them at it," he had muttered, without lowering his gun, "Did you know what was going on? I've had my suspicious lately; you must have had yours. Why didn't you tell him to leave her along?"

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle had asked incredulously and Bella had closed her eyes, tears rolling down her face.

Her father had bitterly given him side glance and Carlisle Cullen had turned on his own son with angry questioning. Edward had shouted back at him; then the three men had all snarled and shouted at each other across and around her, while she'd just stood there, shaking and terrified.

She had never heard her father speak like that to Carlisle. Her father had always respected his employer. She would have said Carlisle was close to being his friend as anyone in the world.

This was why he had been content to allow Bella to spend so much time up at Chantries. Especially after her mother had gone.

Bella had been eleven years old when her mother had run off with Phil, after the vacation she had taken with her aunt. It had only been for a week, the first real vacation Renee had taken since her marriage. Charlie Swan didn't believe in vacations and he hadn't wanted his wife to go, but for once she had had the courage to insist on her own way and that vacation had torn their lives apart.

Her mother had met Phil and fallen madly in love; and hadn't come back. At the time, Bella had felt betrayed and abandoned. But now with adult hindsight, she could understand why her mother had chosen the man she loved rather than her child. When they talked about it, later, her mother had said frankly, "After twelve cold, empty years buried in that place with your father, being with Phil was like coming alive again. I was so happy, darling. I couldn't bear to go back to Charlie. I agonized over leaving you and I know it must have hurt you, but I badly wanted you to be with us and I kept hoping I would get you back once the divorce went through. I didn't believe he would be allowed to keep you. After all, he was never home and he had never shown interest in you. My lawyer was so confident that I would get custody over you. We didn't reckon on Mrs. Cullen would take you over altogether."

"I think dad kept me simply to spite you." Bella had wryly said.

"I have no doubt about it! He was such a hard man!"

The court had decided to leave Bella where she was, granting custody to Charlie Swan, but her mother had had the right to see her at least once a week, _if_ she chose. Her father had never suppressed any letters and cards, or held back the gifts her mother had sent her. It was true, too, that he had rarely said a word against her mother, but then he had never mentioned her at all, if he could help it.

It was as if he had expunged his ex-wife from his memory, beginning with the day he had everything she'd left behind her cleared out of the cottage and burnt on a huge bonfire in the garden.

Bella had watched from her bedroom window, pale and frightened by the destructing. She could still remember the smoke curling up, the grey sky through bare branches, the smell of autumn leaves and her father's grim face as he'd moved around the bonfire. Even at that age, Bella had felt the obstinate, unyielding nature behind his actions and had been disturbed by it.

That night he had found her in Edward's arms he had looked just like that, a cold, grim man who never forgot, or forgave; and all their denials and attempts to explain had made no impact on him.

Carlisle had been almost as angry, in a very different way; he had put an arm around Bella, muttering roughly, "That's enough, Charlie. Can't you see you're terrifying the child? Take her home now. We'll talk about this in the morning, when we've slept on it."

"I'm not having her in my house again," Charlie had grated, "I'm finished with her."

Bella had given a small, shuddering cry and Carlisle had tightened his hold on her, putting his chin down against her tumbled hair.

"Charlie, for heaven's sake!" he had protested, but her father had already turned to walk away, as if having saying his final word.

Then Edward had suddenly said, "I'm going to marry her!" and both older men had stared at him in waiting silence.

Edward had stared back at them, his face pale and grimly set, "But she has to be married from her own home, not from ours, there would be gossip and that's what you want to avoid, isn't it?"

Her father had considered him for a long moment and then had given Carlisle a questioning look. As pale as his son was, Carlisle had stared at the clear, autumn nigh sky, his brows furrowed together as he thought it over, then he had looked back at Charlie and gave him a sharp nod.

_And so it was settled._ Bella had gone home that night with her father, in unforgiving silence, to wait for her wedding day, after which she was to move into Chantries. Edward and his own father had decided that a honeymoon was essential, to give a more normal appearance to that hurried wedding, so the bride and groom had driven straight from the register office to a hotel to spend a few days but the very next morning Bella had got up early, without waking Edward and left the hotel and his life, leaving a brief note.

_It was all a mistake, I couldn't bear to go through last night ever again and I don't want to be married. Please divorce me, or have the marriage annulled or whatever you like, but don't come after me because I couldn't bear to see you again, not ever. I'll be OK, I'm going to my mother's._

And she never saw him again till he showed up barging into her mother's house and scaring her half to death eight years later.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

A sharp rap on the bedroom door made her jump her nerves shredded.

"Time to get up, Bella. The coffee's made and I'm going to cook some breakfast." His deep voice said and she managed a husky reply.

"I need five minutes."

He laughed shortly, "I'll believe that when I see you."

Challenged, she raced through her washing and dressing and made it downstairs in about seven minutes just in time to see Edward put a dish of grilled bacon and mushrooms on the table.

He sat down then, raising a brow at her, "Amazing! You made it!"

She ignored that, accepting that cup of black coffee he had poured her, "Where did you get the bacon and mushrooms?"

"I stocked up at a grocery store last night on my way here last night, in case you didn't have much fresh food," he said offering her the dish of food.

"Thank you, they smell delicious," she said, feeling very hungry.

They ate in silence for several minutes, then, as they both took toast and spread it with butter, Edward said, "The snow is knee-deep this morning. Did you notice?"

She hadn't and threw a startled glance at the window. All she could see of the garden was a white desert, crisp and undisturbed except for a few tiny bird footprints scattered here and there. The snow was banked up to the top of the garden wall. That meant the roads must be blocked.

Nervously lowering her lashes, she watched Edward. He was no longer looking quite as sinister as he had last night in his black leather jacket and black boots. He had clearly shaved and showered; his bronze hair was still as crazy as she had remembered it. He was wearing jeans with a white sweater over a thin, powder-blue cotton shirt. He looked relaxed and casual, but Bella didn't trust him anymore than she would trust a basking shark. He looked across the table at her with an expression in his green eyes that made her tense.

"We won't be able to leave, so we have plenty of _time_," he said and she unguardedly repeated the last word, her face bewildered.

"_Time_?"

"Time to… _talk_," he murmured, lazily assessing her from head to toe in a deliberately tormenting way, "And other _things_."

Her blush came again. The talking wasn't that alarming; it was the '_other_ _things'_ that bothered her, but she didn't say so. She was going to have to watch what she said to him; he was in a mischievous and dangerous mood. He might be smiling and relaxed on the surface, but she knew that underneath that sunny façade, the same anger and hostility simmered and at any moment he might unleash them.

"Some more coffee?" he offered.

She absently took some, murmuring a stiff, "Thank you". She couldn't stay here with him; but how was she to get away?

"How is your mother?" he asked politely.

"Very well," she told him, staring at the window with dismay. A flurry of snowflakes was whirling past. Edward caught her look of consternation and followed her gaze. He smiled.

"Oh, dear, snowing again. We may be stranded here for _days_."

"The snow ploughs will come out to clear the roads soon," she thought aloud.

"The _main_ roads," he corrected, "They won't clear this road _yet_. I'd imagine very few people use it in the winter."

She gave him a sharp look, frowning, "How did you know about this place, anyway? How did you find it?"

He shrugged, "I made a lot of phone calls late yesterday afternoon, after I got to the city to discover that you had left work and that you weren't at your flat. I called your mother; no reply there, either. I called all your shops and finally got on to someone who said you were here."

A suspicion crossed Bella's mind, "Was that the manager of the 5th avenue store by any chance?" He nodded and she thought aloud, "Wait till I talk to Alice again! She knows that it's a company rule never to give out any personal details about a member of staff to a stranger!"

His eyes glinted with amusement, "Maybe she forgot."

Bella viewed him without any answering spark of humor, "You didn't tell her… _anything_… did you?"

"That you were married, for instance?" he mocked, watching the color rise in her face.

The very idea of Alice knowing her long-buried secret made her want to scream and he knew it. He held her in suspense a moment longer; grinning in a way that made her want to hit him, then shook his head.

"No, I didn't need to. I just said I urgently needed to talk to you about a death in the family and for some reason she seemed to think I was in Florida, so she told me you were in this area. She muttered something about your mother, so I wasn't sure if you were there with her… and she didn't know the address or the phone number, but getting both didn't take me long."

"I bet!" she said bitterly and he looked even more amused, as if she had flattered him, which certainly had not been her intention.

"Well, Swan is _hardly_ a common name in the area. I just looked in a local phone book and called this number to check you were actually here. You answered, so I got in my car and set off. I stopped at the grocery store for food and they told me how to find the cottage. Of course, they thought I was crazy, driving in such terrible weather."

"You were!" she retorted and he eyed her quizzically.

"What about you? Why on Earth are you here, at this time of year?"

She explained about the building work that had been done and why her mother had wanted to know the cottage had been left in good condition and he gave her a cynical look.

"So while she's on vacation in sunny Florida you had to drive all the way here, in a blizzard?"

"She isn't on vacation!"

"Why is she in Florida then?"

She hesitated, "Business." She wasn't going to tell him about Phil's injury; he would only say he got what was coming to him.

His brows flickered upwards in wry comment, "It's quite incredible to think of her turning into a successful business woman. I remember her as a quiet little woman always in the background. It amazed me when she ran off with the baseball player. My father always thought she would come back, as this would be a middle-aged fling."

Bella's eyes flickered with anger, "Phil was the best thing that ever happened to my mother and I don't blame her for grabbing him after years of _'living in the background'_ as you put it. Why do you think she was so quiet? Living with my father was slowly killing her. She always says it was like living on a deserted island alone with someone who didn't seem to notice that she was there. Her natural personality was bubbly and lively; but my father was so withdrawn that he managed to smother her."

He leaned back in his chair, a hand roughly thrust through his hair, grimacing, "Your father's a hard man to live with, I can believe that." He stared challengingly over the table, "Don't you want to hear how he is?"

She met his green eyes, her chin up, "Did he send me a message?"

He shook his head, still watching her.

There was bleakness in her face. "Well I don't want to hear about him, either. The day I left Chantries I made up my mind to forget he ever existed."

Edward's sharp eyes probed her features like a lancet, looking for some weak point and then he shrugged. "He's pretty fit, actually. The life he leads, I suppose. He hates my guts, of course and doesn't bother to hide it. Oh he takes any order I give him, without a word and if we pass each other he gives me a nod, but somehow he makes it clear that he blames me for everything."

"That makes two of us then." She muttered looking down.

"_What_?!"

His voice made her jump, but she stubbornly repeated what she had said, in a louder voice.

"You blame me?" he snarled and then laughed in a harsh, uncaused way, "How like a woman. It couldn't be your fault, could it? You didn't throw yourself at me, day after day? You didn't make it very plain what you wanted…"

"I didn't know what I was doing! I was too young!" she defended. She had been crazy about him, the wild, uncontrollable infatuation of first love, her mind and heart possessed by a desire she had never felt before and hadn't known how to handle. If he had repulsed her, she would never have let it show so openly, though. She had been much too shy and unsure of herself. He could have discouraged her, gently. _But he hadn't_. On the contrary, he had let her believe that he felt the same intense attraction.

"That night," she accused, "you could have sent me away, but you didn't. You should have never kissed me that night."

"I kissed you?" he repeated fiercely and her face became redder.

"Well _maybe_ I started to kiss you first, but you _didn't_ _have_ to kiss me back. You weren't a teenager; you were an adult man."

"And I was the one who had to pay," he ground out, "They _made_ _me_ marry you, remember? It was a high price to pay for a few kisses."

She laughed bitterly, "Oh, I remember. And to get the 'high price' you had paid back, you made_ me_ pay on our wedding night, didn't you?"

Dark color swept up his face, his hands clenched into fists. For a second she tensed, afraid that Edward might lose control. After all, he had lost control on their wedding night.

"I was angrier that I had ever been in my life before," he muttered, his face moody.

"You didn't have to be so brutal!" she accused and his eyes flashed.

"Bella, heaven help me, if you don't stop saying things like that I'll…"

"What? Hit me?" she interrupted and he breathed abruptly, staring at her.

"I've never gone in for hitting a woman, although for you… I _might_ make an exception! If I was less than gentle with you that night, it was because I was furious at being _forced_ into marrying _you_!"

She bit down on her lip, flinching. He caught that reaction and frowned slightly.

"I'm sorry, Bella. But surely now you can see why I felt that way? You're not a school girl anymore. If your father hadn't made me feel so guilty, practically accusing me of rape, calling you vile names… my God… what else could I do but say 'I'd marry you'? And then I felt I'd been a fool, I felt trapped. I kept trying to think of a way out, but there was none. My father and your father had made up their minds by then-even if I could have convinced my own father that you were still a virgin, that I'd never had you, your father was going to insist on the marriage. Well, that was what I believed and I still think his pride would have made it too hard for him to back down, I had to go through with it."

"Don't talk about it anymore!" she broke out, shivering. Edward was right. She could understand how he had felt, maybe she had even felt the same way? Her father had destroyed something that night. The distaste in his face made her ashamed; her love for Edward had turned sour and shriveled as she faced her father's accusing eyes. She had tried to convince herself that she was happy to be marrying him, but even before he was so cruel to her on their wedding night, she had been dreading the future.

"We have to talk about it sooner or later!" Edward snapped, "What happened that night made my father change his will and it wrecked my life!"

"What do you think it did to mine?" she retorted.

He fell silent, then abruptly got up from the table and began to clear the dishes.

Relieved; she began to help him carry them into the kitchen and stack the dishwasher. When everything was clean, Edward wondered around the sitting room looking at the pictures, his face thoughtful. She watched him uneasily, curled up like a small, nervous cat in a deep armchair, her legs under her, wondering what he was thinking and what on earth to say to get through to him that he had to leave. A glance at the window told her that the snow was still blowing in the wind; she could hear howling around the house. There was no chance of being able to get away for hours yet, but she was nervous of being here alone with him.

"You seem to have a pretty successful life since I last saw you, in fact." He dryly commented at last, throwing himself down on the couch beside her chair and staring at her with his hands linked behind his head, "Running away to join your mother gave you a new start. I should have gone away, too, but I felt I couldn't walk out on my father. I had to stay and face the music. It wasn't easy, believe, me." His mouth twisted, "Especially with _your_ father treating me like a pariah. He was at my father's funeral and he didn't speak to me, even then. He just walked away afterwards."

"I don't know how my mother stood for it for as long as she did," Bella said absently, noticing how the cold sunlight gleamed off his bronze hair. There were one or two silvery hairs among them now, she suddenly saw for the first time. He would be forty in a few years. It seemed incredible.

"She must have loved him once," said Edward.

"Only because he was so unlike anyone she had ever met," Bella said, "She told me once… she married him because he was so hard to fathom, silent and mysterious; a mystery man. She thought she would be the one to get past his wall of silence, that she would understand him… but she didn't. What she didn't realize was that he didn't need her; or need anyone. I wonder what would have happened to her if she hadn't met Phil. He's a nice man, he makes her so happy. She's quite different. You wouldn't know her. She's the complete opposite from when she was with my father."

"I read an article about them once," he surprised her by saying, "He was with his baseball team; they had won a championship or something big like that. She was with him. I recognized her, even though she's changed so much. She looked terrific. I can see what you mean; she looked as if she was happy. I had had no idea how successful he was, until then. You were mentioned… _"their daughter, Bella, who works for a company in New York City"_… an 'elegant brunette', they had called you." His eyes flickered over her in a gleaming assessment. "Elegant? Hmm…not quite this morning."

Because of the freezing weather, she had put on the warmest clothes she had with her; they had been left behind that autumn, after her last visit, when she had helped to paint the old barn behind the cottage. She hadn't bothered to pack these things up afterwards, just washed them and put them into a drawer, where she had found them that morning, smelling slightly of a lavender-perfume; old, well-washed jeans, a yellow-stripped men's shirt, which she had borrowed from Phil years ago and a comfortably thick sweater. She had had another motive for picking this outfit. These were the least attractive clothes she had with her; she was wearing them as armor against Edward.

"You look down-to-earth, practical and ready to get whatever that comes," he said and she didn't think he was flattering her. Perhaps he had even guessed she had worn these clothes to put him off. He paused, watching her, then asked softly, "Are you?" and she stared, confused.

"Am I what?"

"Ready for whatever that comes," he said and watched with a smile as a flush crept up her face, "You know, I hardly recognize you," he suddenly said, "If I'd walked past you on the street I probably wouldn't have known you."

"You never did…" she said, head lowered, mouth stubborn, "… Anymore than you knew my _mother_…"

"Well, here we are, quite alone. This time we will get to know each other." He got up and she went into a panic and scrambled up, too, knocking over her chair.

"Don't touch me!" she had been pushing his threat to the back of her mind, trying to convince herself that he hadn't meant what he said, but fear suddenly swamped her mind and she began to tremble violently, "I wouldn't bear it if you touched me," she whispered, staring at him.

"You'll have to bear it," Edward said in a low, harsh voice and his eyes held a disturbing insistence which warned her that he meant precisely what he said.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

**Author's note: YAY! Demanding Eddie! I for one would not mind if he was rough with me on our wedding night;) **

**PLEASE READ:**

**So, review and please please please check out the last author's note, also I will not be updating this week at all, homecoming is this Saturday and I have a date! And PSATS are also this Saturday so I will have no time. Next week expect a Bittersweet ending to my Bittersweet story. The week after I don't know what I have planned but I no the last weekend of October there will be NO update I will be in Sandusky, Ohio at CEDAR POINT with my friends for the last weekend of HALLOWEEKENDS and their season. **

**Thanks again**

**Amanda**


	4. My Story

Thank you.

Thank you faithful followers of Shotgun Wedding and Bittersweet. I want to thank you for opening up the e-mail and clicking on the link. Thank you to all that have read more than the first sentence, I appreciate it!

Yes, this is just a boring old author's note but I do have a reason for writing this and to me, it's important. I am a 16 year old girl and I will admit it, I am over weight, not by much to make me feel ugly I am happy but enough to want to change it. I have recently started working out and when I work out I get to thinking, I want to do this, I want to lose weight so I can be happier with how I look and how I present myself. I'm tired of clothes not fitting, I'm tired of the bulge when I sit down, I'm tired of looking at my butt and thinking I have a huge ass. So I'm going to make the change and this is where you all who have read to here come in.

I have a twitter account, I usually tweet about my day, what I'm doing or a favorite line from a movie or song I have just seen or listened to. So I want you all who have twitter to follow me. I want you all to keep looking at my tweets and encouraging me to lose it, I'm now going to tweet about exercising; what I did, if I liked it, how much I've lost and I'm even going to say how much I weigh(a couple times, not all the time. I don't want to just be depressed=]).

But not only do I want you to follow me and make sure I'm doing what I said I want to do. I want you to yell at me(as much as you can through an e-mail) and encourage me. I want you to be honest and fair, if you feel I don't work out enough, say it. Don't like what I'm eating? Tell me. I need the words, I have tried over and over again to lose the weight and I finally want to. My junior year is this year and I'm going to Europe next summer, I want the seniors to notice me, I want the Italian men to notice me. But I want all those people who have made fun of me to feel dumb. I want my senior year and the rest of my life to kick ass. I'm tired of being overweight and seeing how my sister is so pretty and skinny. Now I don't want to be skinny I just want to be healthy and feel good.

So please if you have made it this far thank you and I hope you do help me, I'll have my contact information down below, so give me ideas. Work outs that you like, healthy recipes you enjoy, and any over powering stories you have and are willing to share tell me.

Amanda.

Got a twitter? amaNduhhpleasee

E-mail:


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's note: I want to thank you all who have stuck through with this story and are going to finish reading this. I also want to thank those of you that were encouraging with my last authors note. It meant so much to me.**

**This chapter does end kind of funny, trust me I know. But it's basically going to lead up to so much drama. That is a definite guarantee. Also, if I haven't said this before I want to say it now. This story does not have all of the main characters you would expect. This is simply about Edward's and Bella's relationship and I don't even know if I will have the characters come in at some point but I can guarantee they will be mentioned like when Emmett is Edward's cousin and he might get the estate is they don't have a baby(who will never be named rennesme or however you spell it, I was quite disappointed in that name anyways.)**

**Please please please, read the author's note at the end it's of dire importance.**

"I'm going for a walk," Bella said desperately, heading for the door and hoping he wouldn't stop her.

He didn't. He came after her in long, unhurried strides. "Good idea. It seems to have stopped snowing and the sky is blue."

She gave Edward a glance, noting he had put on his leather jacket, those high black leather boots and leather gloves. Offhandedly, she said, "there are some warm scarves in the closet, if you'd like to borrow one." She pulled out a long red woolen one which belonged to Phil.

"Thanks," Edward said, bending his head. "Put it on for me, would you, please?"

She hesitated, then quickly threw it around his neck, trying not to touch him, but in her haste her fingers brushed his cheek and she only just managed not to give a cry of shock at the electric shock that brief contact gave her. He looked down at her with a crooked smile.

"Thank you."

She quickly turned away, pulled open the door and they both looked out. They squinted their eyes against the brilliance of the sunlight's reflection on the mirror-like snow. The wind had dropped; it was nowhere near as cold. The landscape looked marvelous; great, rolling acres of un-trodden snow, whit and dazzling under that blue sky. It was so beautiful it would catch one's breath, but it was so empty. Not another house or human was in sight. Bella stared at that emptiness, biting her lip.

"Changed your mind? It is cold!" said Edward dryly and she gave him a resentful look while banging the door shut behind her.

"Certainly not!" She began to walk briskly and he fell in beside her, easily keeping step because his legs were so much longer than hers. She saw his black shadow moving on the glassy snow beside her own, fantastical, elongated and rather disturbing in all that empty landscape… it was like as though he haunted her. Or _hunted_ her, she thought, with an inward shudder.

"Did you really want to cross moor? Remember, snow isn't easy stuff to walk through." She said, being deliberately patronizing.

He gave her a glistening smile, aware of the challenge, "oh, I expect I can cope."

"OK, don't say I didn't warn you," she said sweetly and they turned off the road on to the open moorland, their pace slowing once they were struggling through the snow. Then they came out on to a grassy slope - which the snow had turned into a frozen slide. Bella felt her feet give from underneath her and went down with a cry. She landed with a thump on her ass and heard Edward laughing above her.

So, he thought he was funny, did he? She felt stupid, especially after warning him against the moor and that made her aggressive. Overly flushed, her bones aching from the fall, she scooped up two handfuls of snow, firmed them into a ball and turned around to hurl it in his direction.

She got a direct hit, right on his head. His auburn hair was suddenly dusted with powdery snow and he sat - open-mouthed with a surprised look on his face - because she had never been particularly a good shot. She should have got up and run on, because sitting there she was a perfect target and Edward moved faster than a bullet.

He bent, straightened and a second later a snowball hit her; and snow showered around her. She grabbed another handful herself and leapt to her feet, firing off her ammunition before she took off to a run. She heard Edward set off in pursuit and ran faster, her breathing rough and ragged in her throat. It was only a game - but that wasn't how it felt to her.

He caught her a moment later, both arms going round her and she struggled wildly, panic in her face. "Let go!" She cried. Her body arching away from him as far as it could go, while he held it in the powerful circle of his arms.

"Stop fighting it," he murmured, looking down at her, his green eyes very bright and watchful and despite her fear she noticed that he had not said '_Stop fighting me,'_ and that that was deliberate. "Stop fighting it," he had said, because he was hinting that she felt some drag of attraction, that she wanted him to kiss her even though she resisted.

"I don't want it," she lied, staring at his mouth with a confused feeling. She didn't know what to call it, only that it couldn't be desire, yet her mouth had gone dry and she felt strangely dizzy. "No," she tried to say, but her lips moved without making any sound, while he watched them intently, as if he was lip-reading.

"Yes," he whispered and then his gloved hands came up to frame her face between his palms.

She couldn't escape his mouth - he held her head just where he wanted it. His lips were icy-cold when they touched hers at first, and then, she gave a little indrawn gasp. As her lips parted involuntary, Edward's kiss deepened. It grew fierce, invading her mouth, forcing her head back, forcing her to grab him to keep her balance. Her hands gripped his wide shoulders. She shut her eyes because the blue sky seemed to be spinning above her; along with her head. His mouth moved in hot demand and she helplessly met it; hanging on to him, her body trembling and no longer making the pretence of a fight. She had had a number of boyfriends over the past eight years, but none of them had ever made her go weak in the knees with one kiss.

It was Edward who broke off the kiss, just as it had been Edward to start it. He lifted his head and she felt him looking down at her while she clung to his shoulders, shaking. Her eyes closed and her lips burning from the demands he had made on them.

"Next time you're tempted to chuck things at me, remember what the consequences are likely to be; and think again," he said softly, with mockery and her eyes flew open, her face grew flushed as she met his amused gaze.

"Thanks for the tip! I won't forget," she said furiously, "I certainly wouldn't want _that_ to happen again."

His eyes taunted her, "sure about that? I got the impression you were _enjoying_ it."

"Certain!" she snapped, even angrier, because he was quite right and the last thing she wanted was for him to realize he could get her that way. Physically, he attracted her, she couldn't deny it even to herself, but that meant nothing. Her body could make dangerous mistakes. Her body craved pleasure and was easily tempted; her mind was a much more reliable guide.

She pulled away from him, avoiding his shrewd, narrowed eyes and began to walk fast, back towards the cottage, aware after a pause that Edward was following her with his booted feet crunching on the snow. Ahead of her stretched the double line of footprints, hers and Edward's, showing the way they had come. A strange sensation hit her. A superstitious quiver jolted her along her spine while she stared as if at an omen; and tried to avoid crossing that track.

Edward halted a moment later. She didn't look back, but kept walking, until he called out to her, "Look, just coming over those pines… a hawk... what is it, can you see? Sparrow-hawk?"

Bella paused, shading her eyes with one hand while she stared at the blue sky. A dark shape was skating on the wind, pinion spread, but so far away that she couldn't identify it positively.

"I thought I saw some white on the back," Edward said.

"That would be a sparrow-hawk," She agreed, watching to see if she could spot the tell-tale blur of the white, but at that moment, the hawk swooped in descent and they lost it until it soared upward again, carrying something between its talons. Bella gave a short sigh. "He's killed."

Edward caught up with her, giving her averted profile a hard stare. "He has to kill to live," he reminded.

"I know," she snapped, glaring, "you were always telling me that when I was young. I hated it then, I hate it _now_."

His face was unyielding, a hard mask, "hate it or not, it's the way the world works and there's nothing you can do about that, Bella."

"I don't have to like it," she said confusedly, her mind filled with the image of something small and soft, helplessly struggling against the cruel talons carried it away.

Edward caught hold of her chin and lifted her face, his cold green eyes hunting hers remorselessly, while she tried to hide what she was thinking.

"Nature is 'red in tooth and claw'," he said coolly, "you can't change that. And fighting it would only lead to disaster."

She looked angrily into his eyes, her face obstinate. They weren't only talking about the hawk and its prey and they both knew it.

"It's cruel," she said and he shrugged.

"Hawks are rare and beautiful birds, but nature did not intend them to be vegetarians. You can't change the law of their nature, Bella. They have to be ruthless or die."

He had to be ruthless or lose Chantries, he was telling her. And his hard mouth and merciless eyes warned her against trying to escape the fate he had planned for her.

"No," she cried out in protest, pulling her head free and turning to run. Edward let her go and didn't even try to catch up with her. Breathlessly, stumbling over the deep snow, her legs shaky under her, she heard his unhurried footsteps on her heels. Always coming after her, not to be shaken off - as certain death - making her heart knock like a premonition against her ribs.

Reaching the cottage at last, she unlocked the front door and stomped the snow off her boots outside before she entered. She left her boots on the doormat in the hall, pulled off her coat and hood and her warm gloves, before hurrying into the kitchen to make coffee.

She heard the sound of Edward scraping snow off his own boots and then the slam of the door as he came inside. That bang seemed to echo in her head, shutting them in together - shutting out the world.

Once the coffee was on the stove, she ran up the stairs to the bathroom, calling out, "the coffee is on!"

"Can I help?" Edward asked from the hall.

"You can put out the cups," she replied casually, without looking back down at him.

Washing her hands a few moments later, she stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her skin was glowing a warm pink from the cold air and exercise and her eyes were bright, as if with fever. She eyed herself with alarm and anxiety.

He had only been here for a few hours and already had done something drastic to her. She hadn't looked like that before.

Like what? She asked herself angrily, drying her hands roughly with a peach-colored hand towel. Like what, for heaven's sake? What _did _she look like? What was she afraid of? Edward wouldn't… well, he wouldn't… It was hard even to put her worst fears into words. Edward wouldn't use force.

She met her own eyes in the mirror again and glared at herself. No, that was unthinkable. Edward wouldn't. Whatever else he might be capable of, that was not possible. She was certain that he wasn't the type to rape women.

But that didn't make her feel any better, any less nervous, because that was not what she was afraid of, was it? What was really bothering her was that Edward might not even to use force. Force wasn't going to come into his strategy. She had been given a glimpse of how he meant to get his own way and she was scared stiff now. He meant to seduce her and he might do it well.

Look at you! She said to her reflection, her brown eyes accusing. Well, just look at you! One kiss and he sends you into a daze, your knees give away and you look feverish.

What is going to happen when he turns on the heat? And he will, make no mistake about it. He has come here determined to get you into bed and you can't get away, so what are you going to do? How are you going to keep him at arm's length?

She had so many questions — but not a single answer.

Turning away with a helpless sigh, she reluctantly made her way downstairs. If only the cottage were not so remote. Now that the snow had stopped, the snow ploughs would be out, clearing the main roads, but having been on that walk she knew just how deep that snow was and there was no chance of her car making it to the main road. She was a prisoner here, with Edward, for the moment. She had to think of some way to deal with him, but she hadn't a clue how.

Just as she reached the hall, the phone began to ring, making her jump.

"Should I get it?" Called Edward from the kitchen and alarm shot through her.

"No, that's okay, I will," she hurriedly shouted back and went to snatch up the phone in the sitting room. It was probably her mother with the latest news of Phil and she certainly didn't want her mother to hear Edward's voice, then start putting two and two together and making a hundred and three.

Edward appeared in the doorway and watched her, his green eyes narrow with alert. She turned her back to hide her expression.

"Hello?" she said, expecting her mother's voice.

"So, you _did_ go," said a curt male voice, and for a moment, she couldn't even place it. So much had happened since she left the city. "I didn't really believe you meant it," the angry voice added and that was when his identity dawned and she took a deep breath.

"Oh… Jake…"

She felt Edward move closer, giving her his full attention.

"Will you be back by tonight?" Jake asked in a way which threatened yet had a pleading tone.

"I'm sorry," she said, wishing Edward would go away, would stop eavesdropping and watching her. It was hard enough to talk to Jake without having an audience.

"Bella!" Jake broke out, "you _know_ how important this is to me! Don't be stubborn — you can get back in time, if you leave now."

"Isn't it snowing in the city? It snowed all night here — the roads are totally blocked. I couldn't possible get back, even if I set out right now."

Jake cursed so loudly that she sensed Edward picking the words up. She shot him a look over her shoulder and found him far too close and listening intently. She gave him a furious glare, frowning and waved him away with a peremptory hand. He had no right to listen to her private calls.

He didn't move, just lounged negligently against the wall nearby, his expression bland.

Turning away, she said softly into the phone, "I'm really sorry, Jake, I'd get back if I could." And because Edward was listening she went on, "I wish I hadn't come, I wish I was back in the city with you, safe and sound." She meant it too, her voice husky with sincerity, although for very different reasons than those she was implying, not that it mattered because Jake was too angry to pick up any nuances in her tone.

"It's a bit late for regrets now, though, isn't it?" he snapped, "what am I supposed to do? I can't go to this affair alone — I have to take a partner."

"Yes, I know, I'm sorry, Jake." She felt Edward's eyes boring a hole into the back of her head and fumed. Why didn't he have the decency to go away?

"Sorry? You walk out on me at a time when I really need you, for no important reason, either, and then you say you're sorry?" Jake was shouting now, almost deafening her and she held the phone a little away from her ear.

A second later it was snatched from her hand and she gasped, shocked, as she looked up at Edward's taut face.

"That's enough," he snarled into the phone, while Bella desperately tried to take it back from him, only to be held off by one hand. "I won't have any man shouting at my wife through a phone. So, shut the fuck up!"

She heard the confused sound of Jake reacting to the terse male voice, then Edward slammed down the phone and cut him off.

"You…" Bella stammered, so angry, she couldn't speak. "You…"

Edward stared down at her, his long, lean body very still, but his face grim. "Alright, who is he?" he asked, his lips barely parting to let the sound out.

"You had no right to do that!" seethed Bella, trembling with resentment.

"Did he have a right to yell at you on the phone?" Edward snapped, his eyes bleak.

"If I had wanted to hang up on him, I would have!" she threw back, glaring up at him.

Edward bit out, "so, why didn't you? Is he your lover?"

Her color rose even higher, but she held his contemptuous stare, throwing back that content at him. "If he is, that's my business, not yours!"

Violence glittered in his green eyes and he grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. "Is he? Tell me, damn you!"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"You will!" There was threat in his voice, but she defied him, her chin lifted and her brown eyes obstinate.

"Nothing would make me!"

"No?" He said tersely; and a shudder of panic ran through her at something in his hard face.

He began to pull her toward him, his strength more than a match for her, but then the phone began to ring again and he swore under his breath, one hand immediately moving to snatch the phone up.

"Yes?" he grated.

"Give me that phone," Bella said, struggling to take it, but Edward shifted, his head averted so she couldn't quite reach.

She heard Jake loudly demand, "Who is this?"

"I'm her husband. Don't call us anymore," Edward said and slammed the phone down again, cutting off Jake's angry spluttering.

**Author's note: Told you so! Anyways please read this. I start school in 2 weeks but before I start school I start dual enrollment at my local community college(I go there for a class so I don't have to take it when I actually go to college.) But, that's two days a week plus my regular school and I'm taking two AP courses and a hefty load of others, so I don't know when I can update again. What I plan on doing is getting as much done in my spare time that I can get that to my beta and then update this story all before basketball season. **

**I plan on finishing this story first, mainly because it's pretty much my favorite and best story out of them all. Bittersweet I adopted and Love Can Be A Cruel Thing(I am now going to call it LCBACT) is basically juvenile writing to me. **

**SO HERE'S THE PLAN!**

**Shotgun Wedding: WILL be completed by the end of this year.**

**Bittersweet: Going on hiatus for awhile. I want to finish Shotgun Wedding and then I plan on rewriting LCBACT.**

**LCBACT: WILL be rewritten as soon as I finish Shotgun Wedding.**

**Amanda**


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, sorry to those who thought it was an update but thanks to everyone who opened the page and is reading this. This is pretty important: My life right now, is crazy with school and being the basketball manager(glorified name for _water girl_) but I wanted to let you know next chapter _is _coming this weekend and it's really exciting and action filled (sorry that's a lie it's just Edward and Bella skirting around the questions I know everyone has).

So new chapter is coming this weekend! So here's what this is going to be like:

Sundays: new chapter of Shotgun wedding, I promise.

Also, I have twitter! amaNduhhpleasee…you can hear all about what I'm doing and stuff!

I have a blog! It's with windows live journal, I don't know how you find it so if anyone has that you can read that if you want to know more about me, the stories, my life, what's going on, and pretty much anything else.

Also, I have went into hiding at come visit! I have moved shotgun wedding there so if you are like me and although read fanfics here at fanfiction but enjoy the lovely smut twcs has to offer find me on there! I have the same name as here and everything!

I also want to thank those who were very supportive and helping with the weight loss…I've lost 15lbs and I feel so much better. I also want to thank some who were somewhat negative and told me to move my fat butt and just write the story believe it or not you also helped in the loss.

So thanks to those who read this!

Amanda


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